“They’re only chairs, Menrva. They must have shifted when Tania moved the cabin,” Anpiel tried to reassure the distressed Etruscan goddess.
“Yes, you’re right. That must have been it,” Menrva said, though her face still showed unease.
“Menrva, don’t tell me you think Coyote is inside the cabin,” Freyja said sarcastically, draping an arm across her back.
“If he were in here, that idiot over there would’ve already detected him,” the Norse goddess went on, pointing at Loki.
Loki then remembered seeing the sand rising instead of falling, but he tried not to dwell on it.
“Of course. No spiritual being could possibly deceive my senses,” the Norse god said with smug confidence.
“Besides, Rodrigo and Tania have both gotten really strong,” Ana added. “I’m sure the two of them alone could beat that ghost if it messes with us.”
“It is unlike you to be so troubled, Menrva-san. Pray remember that it was you who urged us all to grow stronger,” Susanoo said while seated on the floor, cleaning his katana.
“I didn’t mean to make you all nervous. I was only suggesting that we stay alert,” the Etruscan goddess said, embarrassed, though in truth she felt more and more inferior to her companions and no longer worthy of leading the group.
“How about we cook ourselves a nice dinner so we can all calm down?” Tul suggested while taking out several small pots to begin cooking.
“Yes, that is an excellent idea, Tul-chan,” Susanoo said with a smile, and the others nodded as well.
Ana then got up to use the bathroom on the second floor. After relieving herself, the goddess washed her hands at a water spout inside the latrine, but when she saw her reflection in one of the polished mirrors above the sink, she saw two ghostly faces with black eyes, weeping blood. By reflex, the goddess spun around, but saw nothing.
Ana looked into the mirror again, but now she saw nothing except her own face.
This uncertainty is driving us mad, the goddess thought.
“Rodrigo! I’ve reached my limit!” Tania shouted as the goddess landed once more upon the dunes of the Samalayucan desert. The sky had already turned reddish, and evening was beginning to fall, while orange lines beautifully illuminated the vast dunes of the great desert.
“I’m ready to keep going, Tania!” Rodrigo shouted, but at that moment Menrva interrupted him.
“Don’t push your body too far,” the Etruscan goddess said. “Let’s rest here and leave tomorrow.”
At that moment, the goddess heard someone whisper:
Weakling.
Menrva turned around to see who had said it, but she saw only Epona and Anpiel sitting at the table while Tul prepared dinner in the kitchen. Susanoo sat in the sitting room in his usual lotus position, while both Freyja and Loki had gone to the upstairs rooms.
“Is something wrong, Menrva?” Rodrigo asked.
“No, nothing at all,” Menrva said, a little nervously, then smiled at the young tannin. “Let’s have dinner and rest.”
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Tania came in through the window of the cabin, breathing hard. She had already lost her manticore transformation and was taking deep breaths.
“There’s another group of mountains farther south. It looks like that’s where this sea of dunes ends,” she said.
“Even so, we still don’t know how far Grandmother Spider’s barrier stretches,” Menrva replied, glancing at the dreamcatcher hanging from her neck.
“That man told us there were nomadic tribes in this desert. If we can find any of them, it’s possible we may be able to speak with their gods,” Anpiel added.
Tania stretched her arms and said casually, “Well, we’ll figure that out tomorrow.”
Then she went to peer into the kitchen where Tul was cooking.
“Need any help, Tul?” Tania asked when she saw the rabbit goddess preparing soup in a large pot.
“Don’t worry, ch’úupal, I can handle it all by myself,” Tul said. “You go sit down while I finish the soup.”
“It’s fine, I’m not that tired,” Tania said, pulling a pot out of the cabinet.
At that moment, Tania looked inside the pot and saw the severed head of an infant, covered in blood. The baby stared at her with horrifying black eyes, and she could hear it breathing slowly.
Then it smiled at her.
The goddess threw the pot to the floor in terror. When it shattered, there was nothing inside.
“What happened, ch’úupal?” Tul asked in surprise.
“I saw something!” Tania said, terrified, turning in every direction as though expecting to find the culprit.
Ana, who had come down from the second floor, peered into the kitchen as well.
“Did something break?” she asked.
“Just a clay pot. Don’t worry,” Tania said when she saw the shards of the broken pot on the floor.
“What did you see, ch’úupal?” Tul asked, confused as she looked at the Punic goddess’s face, now completely pale.
“A baby’s head in that thing. That’s what I saw!” Tania said, still breathing hard.
“You too?” Ana said. “I saw two little girls beside me in the bathroom... they were the ghostly faces of my sisters.”
“No, this isn’t a coincidence,” Tania said. “Coyote is inside this house.”
“But that’s impossible. Loki would’ve detected him already,” the Irish goddess replied. “It’s probably that bastard playing tricks on us to scare us.”
“No, I don’t think this is Loki’s doing,” Menrva said as she too entered the kitchen.
“He may be stupid, but he isn’t an imbecile,” she declared.
“Do y’all remember what the Talking God said?” Freyja interrupted. “That if we saw weird stuff, it meant Coyote was nearby?”
“But why hasn’t Loki detected him?” Ana asked, still puzzled.
“What if that guy is stronger than Loki and is fooling him too?” Menrva said, lifting her arms in a gesture of helplessness.
“I can perform an exorcism if you need me to,” Tul said. “But we’d have to put up a barrier around the house so he can’t get back in.”
At that moment, the soup began to smell burnt, causing Tul to cry out and immediately put out the fire. But a burst of flame shot out from the stove. It nearly hit Tul, but Tania instantly threw herself between the fire and the rabbit goddess to shield her. With her bare hand, Tania stopped the flames and kept them from harming anyone.
“We know it’s you, Coyote! Show yourself, you fucking coward!” Tania shouted furiously while holding Tul in her arms.
All the members of Orniskem gathered around the kitchen doorway to see what had happened.
“Coyote is inside!” Tania said, still embracing Tul.
“But I don’t sense any presence,” Loki said in frustration.
“That monster must surpass your mental powers,” Tania said, her face filled with concern.
“I also think we need to take action,” Menrva added.
Loki closed his eyes and began trying to mentally scan every room in the cabin, but he sensed nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Tania, I think accidents in the kitchen are common,” Ana said.
“No, Crow. It’s one thing when you burn things in the kitchen, but my Tul isn’t incompetent,” Tania replied in frustration.
“You didn’t have to insult me, Salamander,” Ana answered angrily at the Punic goddess’s words.
“Everyone, let’s calm down, please, and think clearly about what’s happening,” Anpiel said.
“Remember that we’re on edge and all of us are expecting ‘things’ to happen, but this may simply be mental gymnastics,” he concluded.
“What do you mean by mental gymnastics?” Epona asked.
“When we’re under stress, or when we want to believe something, our minds make us see the things we expect to see,” Anpiel replied.
Then the angel turned to the rest of the group.
“Has anyone experienced anything besides Tania and Tul’s kitchen accident?” he asked.
“I saw the faces of my sisters in the bathroom,” Ana said.
“And I saw a baby’s head in that broken pot over there,” Tania added, pointing at the shards of the broken pot on the floor.
“A voice whispered to me,” Menrva said.
But all the others shook their heads.